Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating. Barclays now has a $33.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $29.00. Murphy Oil traded as high as $36.17 and last traded at $36.34, with a volume of 3737101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.72.

MUR has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Murphy Oil from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Murphy Oil from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Murphy Oil

In related news, SVP Daniel R. Hanchera sold 47,320 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.79, for a total transaction of $1,598,942.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,222,049.14. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 6.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Murphy Oil

Here are the key news stories impacting Murphy Oil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Crude rally / Middle East supply-risk premium: Oil prices have stayed elevated amid renewed geopolitical risk in the Middle East, prompting a rotation into upstream names. Murphy’s cash flows are closely tied to crude, so the stock typically amplifies moves in oil. Murphy Oil jumps as crude stays elevated
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler upgrade: Piper Sandler upgraded Murphy to an overweight/buy on rising oil prices, which can attract demand from model-driven and institutional buyers. Piper Sandler upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised rating to equal-weight and lifted its target to $33, trimming a prior underweight stance — a modest vote of confidence that supports the stock in the current oil-driven rally. Barclays upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $33 recently and other analysts (e.g., Piper Sandler) have lifted targets — analyst support combined with higher oil tends to boost sentiment. Goldman Sachs price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: Murphy recently raised its quarterly dividend (latest $0.35), which improves income appeal and can provide support during sector upswings. MarketBeat: dividend and company summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed institutional flows: Large funds show both meaningful additions (FMR added millions of shares) and sizable reductions from others; this churn can amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous for longer-term direction. QuiverQuant: institutional & hedge fund activity
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Daniel Hanchera sold 47,320 shares (~$1.6M) in early March and reduced his holding materially; large insider sales can create near-term selling pressure or raise governance questions for some investors. SEC Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst consensus / targets still mixed and average targets remain below the current share price: while a few firms raised targets, the median analyst target is around the low $30s and several firms maintain hold/underweight ratings — a reminder of upside limits if oil cools. MarketBeat: analyst coverage & targets

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Murphy Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Murphy Oil in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Murphy Oil by 67.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Murphy Oil during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 72.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Murphy Oil by 39.7% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Murphy Oil Stock Up 5.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.09 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.35.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.21. Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 3.73% and a net margin of 3.83%.The business had revenue of $613.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $650.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. Murphy Oil’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Murphy Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Murphy Oil’s payout ratio is presently 194.44%.

About Murphy Oil

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.